If the nations of the world don’t act to create a sustainable future, what will the cost be? And what guidance does science provide on policy choices that will decide that future? These questions were central to a ministerial dialogue moderated by TWAS on 9 July called “Charting pathways to the future we want”, part of the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s High-Level Political Forum.

Panel participants included prominent figures behind global development efforts: UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova; Rolf-Dieter, the director-general of CERN, the world's largest particle-physics laboratory; International Development Law Organization Director-General Irene Khan; Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Assistant Minister Vesna Kos; Bolivian Development Planning Minister Elba Viviana Caro Hinojosa; and Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, the Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. The chair was Economic and Social Council President Martin Sajdik, and TWAS Executive Director Romain Murenzi acted as panel moderator. A video of the dialogue is available above.